


did all my dreams ever mean one thing? (does happiness lie in a diamond ring?)

by felicitymeagansmoak



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 12:47:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicitymeagansmoak/pseuds/felicitymeagansmoak
Summary: It seemed as if hours had ticked by before she finally picked herself up off the floor of the cabin; standing on shaking legs she took her first full breath since he had walked away from her. No matter which direction she turned all she could feel was Oliver, his scent had been stamped on every room in their home.





	did all my dreams ever mean one thing? (does happiness lie in a diamond ring?)

It was quiet in the cabin, quieter than it had been in months without the playful laughter of her family. She wasn’t going to pretend like she understood why Oliver had to be the one to help save the universe, but she also wasn’t going to fool herself into thinking she was surprised. Her husband had always been self sacrificing in that way, she just wished that he would have realized he wasn’t just sacrificing himself anymore. 

Mia was still asleep, thank god, because Felicity needed the shadow of the night to let herself grieve. Tomorrow she would pick herself back up and make a plan, but tonight... tonight she felt broken. 

It seemed as if hours had ticked by before she finally picked herself up off the floor of the cabin; standing on shaking legs she took her first full breath since he had walked away from her. No matter which direction she turned all she could feel was Oliver, his scent had been stamped on every room in their home. 

As she walked into their bedroom, she couldn’t find the will to look at their bed, where they had made love only hours ago. Instead she walked into the closet, needing to change out of the clothes that would be forever tainted with this memory. 

She had every intention of grabbing something from her drawer and escaping to the couch to fall into her pit of despair, when her body suddenly changed course. She found herself standing in front of Oliver’s dresser and before she knew what she was doing her hands were trailing over the softness of his clothes. Delving into the drawer, searching for that one grey hoodie that she loved so much, her hand hit something solid. 

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she pulled out a velvet box. Tears started to blind her as she realized what she was holding before she even saw it. She opened the box to find her engagement ring. The one that, three years ago, she had told him she never wanted back. There wasn’t a force in the universe that could have stopped the sobs that wracked her body, but she put her hand over her mouth in hopes that she wouldn’t wake the sleeping baby in the next room.

She took the ring from the box and slipped it on to her left ring finger, fitting it perfectly up against her wedding band. 

She whispered into the darkness, “I love you. Always.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“I’m not dead...” he said as he looked incredulously at the Monitor, “it’s over, we fixed it. Why am I not dead?” 

“It seems the universe has found its balance all on its own, Oliver. It’s time to go home now.” 

Home? He didn’t have a home. It’s been 20 years, or at least that’s what the Monitor had told him. His home is long gone now, his children were grown, his wife had most likely moved on. 

“I don’t know where to go from here,” he sighed. “This was supposed to end with my death, I never planned on being able to go back. There is no place for me anymore.”

The Monitor looked at the man that had become his partner over the last two decades and without a second thought, he made a decision. “You have made an incredible sacrifice, Oliver. The universe owes you one, and so do I.”

The next thing he knew a blue portal opened up in front of him and what he saw on the other side almost made him go weak in the knees. He saw the cabin, but it hadn’t aged a day.

“What is this?” He asked.

“In their world you’ve only been gone a few hours, everything is balanced now. Go home.”

Oliver didn’t need to be told twice, with one final look at the Monitor he stepped through the portal and on to the freshly cut lawn of his family’s home.

He slowly approached the house, still knee deep in the fear that this was all some sort of sick joke. There were no lights on in the house, all he could see was the faint glow of the television that was playing the video John had made them from their wedding day. And there, asleep on the couch was his beautiful wife looking exactly the way she did the day he was forced to leave her 20 years ago. 

He knelt down next to her head and gently brushed the hair from her face. He wasn’t sure exactly what he expected, for her to bolt up in a panic, for her to scream at him, hit him, kick him out, but he knew for sure he didn’t expect her to slowly open her eyes and lock them onto his own.

“Hi, baby,” he said without even thinking, “God, I missed you.”

“Oliver?” she said, tears starting to fill her beautiful blue eyes. “Am I dreaming?” 

“No, honey. I’m here, I’m home. I’ve got you.”

She reached up to touch his face and gasped when she realized that this was real, he was here. He placed his hand over hers and took his first deep breath in what felt like a lifetime. Confusion flitted across his face when he felt something cold and angular on her finger, he took her hand into his own and his jaw dropped when he saw his mother’s ring situated next to her platinum wedding band.

“I just found it,” she said, “I thought that if I put it back on, maybe I could go back. I know we said no regrets, but I spent hours lying here wishing I could do it all over again, wishing I had never taken it off in the first place. I thought that if I could go back, maybe I could change it. Did I change it?”

She searched his face, trying to find answers, trying to make sense out of everything that had happened. 

“I’ll explain every thing tomorrow, okay?” he whispered. “For now I just want to check on our babygirl and hold you until the sun comes up. Nothing else matters right now.” 

“I love you.”

“I love you so much.”


End file.
